The Smackers Thread

[d-d-d-dAz]

10 minutes ago, Supremo said:

The cash in at Summerslam should have been the catalyst. John equally as angry as Cody that they’ve both been robbed of a real winner. They teased it with the Punk match in Saudi.

As much as I don’t rate Seth, and dread him carrying the company as Champion, it would have at least made sense that Cody and Cena would eventually bond over this dickhead stealing the belt from both of them. I suggested as much in the Summerslam thread.

Write a fucking story though! Give some causality! As it is, Cena just woke up yesterday morning like Ebenezer Scrooge, completely changed. They didn’t even bother to show the montage of him being visited by the ghosts of JBL, Umaga and Edge. Where was the clip of Cena getting out of the shower, with the last six months being a bad dream?

Dreadful writing however you look at it. All this chat of them writing the last chapter of his book, and they’ve seemingly skipped three pages!

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't defending it as good writing... just saying that if you need to make that segment make sense, it's about the only way you can.

And, let's be fair, CM Punk ending the year in the heart of Jeddah holding up the big green belt would be very funny.

CM Punk. The King of Saudi Arabia.

Triple H has probably already had the t-shirt designed. 

Edited August 2, 2025 by d-d-d-dAz

[Supremo]

Best case scenario is probably it being revealed that it was a swerve on Cena’s part, who’s playing 4D chess, but Cody was playing 5D chess, was on to Cena, and only pretend to believe him.

Maybe Brandi can stop Cardi B’s chair shot or something. Who told you it was open mic night, bitch?

Such a convoluted mess. It doesn’t have to be like this.

[Mr_Danger]

3 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Not to piss on KFogg’s cornflakes, but Cena turning heel again on Sunday is the only outcome that makes sense.

That was the speech he gives after the match not before it. Even by some of the terrible booking standards in WWE they would surely have a hard thought fair battle then have someone run interference only for Cena to say fuck off/ have the Cody turn then do the sorry speech after the match. 

[RedTwoster]

There’s probably a possibility here that the reason they (seemingly) turned Cens pre-match rather than post-match is because of Cena’s availability. He can’t be at Raw or Smackdown next week, so therefore they’ve done it ahead of time. It’s an odd choice whatever the case.

[air_raid]

4 hours ago, NeverYield said:

Cena heel turn x2 incoming 

I can’t see it. With two nights build to let people think Johns repented than pull the rug? That’s some WCW shit.

4 hours ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Not to piss on KFogg’s cornflakes, but Cena turning heel again on Sunday is the only outcome that makes sense.

…. and not really - if like me, you think they’ll definitely have Cena go into his last match already back as a goodie, you’ve only got (IIRC) Paris, Crown Jewel and Survivors to get PLE performances out of him before the clock ticks down. Probably not enough time to get in a believable and accepted 180 if they pull a fake/gotcha one tomorrow night.

[simonworden]

'member when Sting faced Hogan in one of his last matches and the whole thing revolved round The Stinger trying to rally him back to the good side? 'member the fans went crazy and how highly rated it was between fans? Clearly the writers don't as ripping that off would've been easy and better than this!

It's got to be a fake out by Cena but that would mean he's ending this run as a heel or Cody is going to turn on Cena which just about works as it's at the point I can't think what Cody does over the next 12 months as a face.

 

Heel Cody as Champ can go through Cena and some midcarders until Mania where is love Jacob Fatu to crush him. 

[SuperBacon]

I didn't mind that episode of SmackSown (first one I've watched in about 3 years I think) and I enjoyed Cenas promo. Dunno where they go with this, but I'm quite intrigued. 

Giulia (maybe the most attractive wrestler ever?) vs Vega was decent enough as well and they sold it as an important match, but Vega coming out to crickets was embarrassing. Same for the tag team in the next match. Zero heat. 

Is it always like this, or was it a poor crowd?

Aleister Black is absolutely shit in every single way. How does this man keep getting employed? He is useless.

Put a belt on Jelly Roll. 

[DavidB6937]

11 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Giulia (maybe the most attractive wrestler ever?) vs Vega was decent enough as well and they sold it as an important match, but Vega coming out to crickets was embarrassing. Same for the tag team in the next match. Zero heat. 

Is it always like this, or was it a poor crowd?

No one gives a shit about Zelina anywhere. Or tag teams unless they're going through tables.

[RedTwoster]

11 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Giulia (maybe the most attractive wrestler ever?) vs Vega was decent enough as well and they sold it as an important match, but Vega coming out to crickets was embarrassing. Same for the tag team in the next match. Zero heat. 

Is it always like this, or was it a poor crowd?

For the acts you mention, it’s pretty much always like that. Having Chelsea drop the US title to Zelina was a baffling decision for me, as Vega consistently gets no reaction whatsoever. 

I’m always pretty scathing about the tag division but it’s because of how they’re being booked - only The Street Profits and Wyatt Sicks get any sort of reaction, and no other wrestler has any clear character. They’re booked to squabble and generally look like chumps - the worst part about it for me is that it’s a division packed with talent. It could easily be an integral - and credible - part of their weekly television.

You have Alex Shelley, who proved how fun a personality he could be in TNA. There’s DIY - both of whom were top stars in NXT. There are the Street Profits - one of whom is oozing with star quality. You have Humberto - who, during his stint on the short-lived Paul Heyman-booked Raw showed there was a bit more to him than it seems. You have Fraxiom, who were NXT-standouts. 

Yet they’re all booked in a way that makes them seem like children, and one entity where their personalities appear mesh together. There was event a segment where Ciampa tried to get them all on the same page to take out the Wyatts, saying ‘Smackdown tag division, unite!’ 

It’s a shame, really.

[FUM]

3 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

And, let's be fair, CM Punk ending the year in the heart of Jeddah holding up the big green belt would be very funny.

CM Punk. The King of Saudi Arabia.

Triple H has probably already had the t-shirt designed. 

Crown Jewel is in Australia this year. There’s no more Saudi shows until the Royal Rumble.

[air_raid]

1 minute ago, FUM said:

Crown Jewel is in Australia this year. There’s no more Saudi shows until the Royal Rumble.

Punk winning the Rumble in Saudi is going to be amazing.

[Supremo]

Watching this show, seeing Sami Zayn get the huge reaction from the Montreal crowd, it felt like getting back with an ex. You think you can make it work. You hope you can get the magic back. But then mid-shag you admit to yourself that it’s not the same. The moment’s passed. It’s done.

Boom’s over, lads. It’s been on shaky ground since the Netflix debut, but this show sealed it. Game over.

After reading in this week’s Observer that, “Nick Khan’s attitude as a general rule is that unless there is a criminal conviction, it’s not an issue.” And then watching this show? Honestly expecting the news to break that Vince is already back and has been ghost-writing the last few months. His fingerprints are everywhere.

The biggest angle of the year in Cena’s heel turn being completely dropped out of nowhere without any sense of narrative catharsis. Pay per views ending with Brock Lesnar’s music hitting. R-Truth back being a comedy idiot. Nearly every single match on both Raw and Smackdown being an impromptu match announced by the General Manager seconds earlier. There was a real sense of Vince and his mashed potato brain scripting the same thing over and over and over again as he rocks back and forth, necking ketchup. I give it three weeks. They’ll quietly add Vince’s name to the Executive Producers credit at the end of a show.

I haven’t watched Unreal yet. I couldn’t stomach anymore Hunter right now. But isn’t the first episode built around the idea that the Cena turn is so great because they’re all so brilliant and so smart? Season 2 should be a laugh, shouldn’t it? We were actually too brilliant and too smart, so we dropped the whole thing dead without even offering a satisfying pay off. Because we’re brilliant. And smart.

I wonder what Sami thinks, seeing the boom he created crumble. Remember when they were still riding high (literally months ago!) and Sami made that comment about WWE no longer being political? Lad must feel like a right whopper watching Hunter literally standing with Donald Trump at the White House podium. Similarly, I can’t imagine how the female members of that roster feel reading that Brock was brought back because he wasn’t criminally convicted, therefore making everything okay, actually.

So fucking grim, the lot of it. Wild how quickly they flushed all their goodwill down the shitter. Thoughts and prayers to any new fans they made in the last few years, especially those who built their personality around supporting WWE exclusively.

[LaGoosh]

23 minutes ago, Supremo said:

Similarly, I can’t imagine how the female members of that roster feel reading that Brock was brought back because he wasn’t criminally convicted, therefore making everything okay, actually

On top of that, he was paid the whole time he was off TV while a bunch of their mates were sacked in cost cutting measures.

Edited August 9, 2025 by LaGoosh

[The King of Old School]

Still calling Cena the last real champion is funny.

They are probably correct.

Also really dont like the Flair/Bliss dynamic. All so cringe from terrible actresses. Do like them jn-ring though.

Edited August 9, 2025 by The King of Old School

[d-d-d-dAz]

(Bad) podcasts will be made, (terrible) books will be written and (insufferable) shoot interviews will be recorded about just how badly this John Cena final run has been fucked up. An all time disgrace.

If he wasn't so seemingly on board with working with Lesnar, I'd feel bad for him. But as it is, whatever.

I've not watched Smackdown, but Cena's entrance just popped up on Instagram and it's so bizarre and jarring how they're just pretending it never happened. Besides the black and white screens bit, which clearly they've decided they quite like.

Edited August 9, 2025 by d-d-d-dAz